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FreeBSD 10.2 Released
moderators_are_w*nke writes with news that FreeBSD 10.2-RELEASE is now available. Here is the download page, the release notes, and release errata. Features highlights:
The resolvconf(8) utility has been updated to version 3.7.0, with improvements to protect DNS privacy. The ntp suite has been updated to version 4.2.8p3. A new rc(8) script, growfs, has been added, which will resize the root filesystem on boot if the /firstboot file exists. The Linux® compatibility version has been updated to support Centos 6 ports. Several ZFS performance and reliability improvements. GNOME has been updated to version 3.14.2. KDE has been updated to version 4.14.3.
This is a BSD story, why isn't it using the slashdot red BSD theme?!! Did Coyboy Neal take it when he left?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
To be fair, they can both "serve" various use cases pretty well. Though FreeBSD is more "service" centric than Linux's "user" centric. However FreeBSD (having come out from all of the post 4.x SMP development years) is now really beginning to invest and shine in some of Linux's traditional "user" areas and is running on things like ARM, RPi, etc.
And yes, the "hacked" versus "engineered" thing is definitely true, and it's the reason I no longer use Linux, I simply can't afford the extra time to deal with having to manage and deal with the constant churn and battles and disappearing acts in "Linux distro land".
With FreeBSD I have one product from one place... kernel, userland, filesystem, networking, ports/packages... and it's been there that way all along ever since before Linux existed.
I'm happy with that.
OP here. Great comment, and I agree. While I think Linux makes a great desktop OS, I'm a firm believer in BSD on the server side. I've run BSD-based firewalls/proxy servers and BSD-based Web servers and I really love how simple BSD makes config files. All in one place. Linux, as you note, depending on the distro, in several places.
Right now at work, I have Linux servers in certain roles (CentOS for PBX and Debian for Web server) and the config files are Greek compared to FreeBSD and OpenBSD's simplicity.
My next home-based machine is going to be a Chromebook because that is really where Linux has shined on the desktop. Hidden behind a veil doing one thing well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing Linux as a whole, but as a sysadmin, the BSDs have proven themselves to me in ways the Linux distros have not. I've often said that if I ever ran my own company, I would have BSD in the server room and Linux on the desktops. I've seen this very setup before where a friend works and everyone there seems to really like how it all works.
I had never run BSD on the desktop before, but recently I converted both my desktop and my aging T500 laptop to PC-BSD. The experience has been pretty good so far.
I especially like the boot environment upgrade process. The only thing you need to be aware of is not installing new software on your system after the ZFS clone. Otherwise the upgrade process affects you not at all until you're good and ready to boot into it, and at that point if anything goes wrong, you just roll it back and wait for next time.
Then I look at my real FreeBSD server and wish it was equally slick.
My biggest problem with PC-BSD is that Life Preserver does something with SSH that's just never worked for me. I've tried multiple clients to multiple servers. I've emulated the SSH part of the connection process at the command line, no problem. But after setting up the same connection, Life Preserver bombs out with a generic (aka useless) error message.
Mostly it just works, but when it doesn't I've found some of the error messages extremely unhelpful.
(Yes, I know how to wrapper SSH to diagnose this properly, but I just haven't found the time yet.)
I ran FreeBSD servers for a few years, but when Linux got journalled filesystems, an O(1) scheduler and real threads, it just made Linux better. Plus much better hardware support.
I know FreeBSD eventually addressed much of that, but just too late.
It's because a lot of BSD users are absolute jerks. They piss on anyone who isn't a part of their "ecosystem". A lot of people, including me, got scared away a long time ago due to this. Sure, I could use BSD, and it's evidently technically superior, but am I going to turn into one of THEM? Even if I don't, I'm still going to have to deal with these pricks on a daily basis while asking for support, and that's just too much. No way. Sorry, BSD.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!